Your Cat’s health

Due to cats being very independent it’s harder to tell when they are ill of have an injury. You should therefore regularly check your cat, you yourself will be able to do this without having to go to a vet, by checking the cat yourself regularly if they do become ill or injured you are likely to be able to identify this easily and quickly which will be helpful to your vet. The following information will help you to know how to do this;

You should be able to feel your cat’s ribs, they should have a waistline and you should be able to see their tummy tuck. One sign of illness can be sudden weight gain or loss. Their nails should be smooth and clipped regularly, their ears should be free of wax and shouldn’t smell, in the summer it is a good idea to put sun cream on fine haired cats or if your cat has white tipped ears, this will prevent both burning but also decrease the risk of them getting skin cancer. Their eyes shouldn’t have any redness of discharge in or around them, instead they should be bright and clear, their gums should be black or pink and teeth should be white without any excess tartar around them, a way of spotting illness is bad breath, dropping food and more saliva than normal. Depending on the pigment of cat’s skin it should either be black or pink, their coat should be thick, smooth and shiny, it shouldn’t be patchy nor have fleas.

Cats do generally tend to eat fur and grass so it is normal for them to vomit this up, however if they start doing it a lot you should go to our vet, you should also make sure that your cats waste is the same each time and if you start to notice that they are constipated or have diarrhoea you should seek the help of your vet.

Cat on the hole don’t tend to drink a large amount, this tends to be because their food its quite moist, they also tend to get drink away from their home whilst they are roaming about, however you should always have a large fresh bowl of water out for them and if you do start to notice their water intake increase contact your vet.

Older cats are really just like elderly humans, they need more care as they are more likely to get ill. You will find that they will eat less due to the fact they will no longer be as active therefore they won’t need as many calories, you will find that they go to the toilet a lot more. You will also find that they spend a lot more time around you rather than going out, you can still use the same check list for checking them over but be aware that age will change them slightly.

Cats do live to a much older age than dogs and can live beyond 20 years old, you will notice them slowing down as they reach the older years but they do tend to grown old very gracefully, if you do come across something unusual for your cat be sure to get them to the vets as soon as you can as the later you leave it as they get older the more serious it can be.